Callie Galovich, who lives in New Hampshire and works for a private wealth management company, and Gabrielle “Gabby” Condecido, a flight attendant living in Washington state, met their sophomore year.

“We had a meet-and-greet in the dorms to meet potential new roommates for the following year,” Galovich said. “We decided to room together and quickly became friends.”

Galovich, who earned a bachelor’s in accounting and finance, described Condecido as outgoing — someone who makes a friend wherever she goes. “She is always up to go new places and try new things,” Galovich said.

“Callie is always there for me no matter what,” said Condecido, who got her bachelor’s in speech pathology with a minor in special education. “I can come to her for any advice, and I know that she’ll be honest.”

two women hugging
Gabrielle "Gabby" Condecido, left, celebrates Callie Galovich's — then Callie Bryant — graduation from 鶹ý in May 2017. (Courtesy photo)

The attributes they admire most in each other:

Galovich: Gabby is spontaneous, brave, thoughtful and supportive.

Condecido: Callie is genuine, insightful, practical, thoughtful and proactive.

The moment they realized they were best friends:

Galovich: It kind of just happened. We slowly spent more and more time with each other, whether it was eating lunch, doing schoolwork or something on the weekend.

Condecido: I wholeheartedly agree that it just happened organically. The more time we spent together, the more we realized we had similar interests and have bonded ever since.

Fondest 鶹ý memory:

Galovich: We loved going to 鶹ý football games together to watch the game and get 鶹ý gear.

Condecido: We took advantage of all the activities that 鶹ý had to offer — recreational volleyball, events, games, and all the things with free swag or food.

A recent time they saw each other:

Earlier this year, Galovich flew to Washington to see Condecido for a girl's weekend.

How they’ve maintained their friendship over the years:

Galovich: We plan trips together, talk every day and try to see each other as often as we can.

Condecido: We were practically a package deal when we were both still living in the Hampton Roads area. We were even co-workers at one point. Although we are now living our separate lives on different sides of the country, we always find time for each other.